The awesomely named Project Eagle Claw is an effort to shut down Nigerian email scams and improve the nation's image. Apparently the initiative is well underway—already officials have made 18 arrests and shut down 800 sites.

The project's name reflects how much faster Nigeria is able to deal with the problem now. Previously, officials would use cyber raids and petitions (seriously? Like a "Sign here if you want to see this guy busted for identity theft" petition?) to deal with the problem. Now they're implementing a drop-kick shut down procedure that, according to officials, could take up to 5,000 fraudulent emails offline per month.

The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been working closely with Microsoft to develop a solution that should be fully operational by 2010. [Ars Technica, image of Nigerian scammer via Fox News]